Desmond Elliot made the disclosure while responding to remarks by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the leadership crisis involving Obasa and claims that the episode nearly cost him his position.

Recall that Obasa was earlier removed as Speaker by some members of the Lagos Assembly before President Tinubu reportedly intervened and reversed the decision.

Speaking at a public event, Gbajabiamila disclosed that he had advised Elliot to stay away from the move to impeach Obasa, but the actor-turned-politician allegedly ignored the warning.

He further claimed that after receiving a call from the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), he instructed Elliot to publicly distance himself from the impeachment plot, but the lawmaker declined.

Reacting during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Elliot said he was surprised to hear Gbajabiamila reveal that the crisis almost affected his job.

According to him, he believed the move against Obasa had the backing of President Tinubu, adding that many lawmakers had already signed before he appended his signature.

“Frankly speaking, I was not in the country; my wife and I travelled during that period between January and February. We were in recess and it was an opportunity for us to travel. That was the time Honourable Mudashiru Obasa was impeached, and it came to me as a shock because I was in South Africa then,” Elliot said.

“So, two days after I came back, I was also as confused as everybody else, and I saw that almost everybody had signed.

“I pretty much thought that the directive was from the President and I appended my own signature. Some people who travelled and returned also appended their signature.

“Eventually, Mr President called us and made us understand that the directive was not from him and asked us to return the Speaker and we did. So my leader coming out to say that he almost lost his job came as a shock to me,” he added.